Part 2 Summary and Analysis

In the first section, labeled Brooklyn, Walker includes letters she wrote to her mother and a childhood babysitter, Louisa. Walker writes to Louisa about her new house and friends in Brooklyn. She shares a mugging her father suffers on the way home from the train stations and the details of a fight her parents have. When the fights break out, Walker reacts by hiding.

When Walker writes to her mother, she describes visits to Grandma Miriam's house. Grandma spoils Walker, which she confesses to her mother, though she hopes that her mother will not object to her grandma's generous television allowance. She also begins to share some of her grandmother's prejudice, but does not seem to recognize it as such.

Visits to Grandma Miriam also include Grandma taking care of Great Grandmother Jennie. Jennie never reacts to anyone's presence, and Walker's...